Rolling in­vest­ments
Top 10 new ve­hi­cles with best an­tic­i­pated re­sale value

WHILE monthly pay­ments and fuel costs may con­cern new-car buy­ers, un­less you’re the type of owner who drives a ve­hi­cle into the ground, what your ve­hi­cle is worth when it’s time to sell can ei­ther cost or save you thou­sands of dol­lars.

To help, U.S.-based Kel­ley Blue Book’s an­nual Best Re­sale Value Awards lists the ve­hi­cles priced un­der US$60,000 that are pro­jected to re­tain the most value long af­ter they’ve lost their new-car smell. Here are the Top 10 2016 ve­hi­cles (with base Cana­dian MSRPs) pro­jected to re­tain an av­er­age of al­most 55 per cent of their orig­i­nal prices af­ter five years of typ­i­cal own­er­ship.

10: Subaru Forester

This is the sec­ond straight year KBB has awarded Ja­pan’s Subaru as the best over­all main­stream brand for re­sale value (Toy­ota’s Lexus won the lux­ury seg­ment). The $25,995 2016 Forester all-wheeldrive, five-pas­sen­ger, four-door compact cross­over is the first of two Subaru mod­els on this year’s Top 10. Since its de­but in 1997, the Forester has been a re­sale-value win­ner, and the fourth-gen­er­a­tion version that ar­rived in 2014 con­tin­ues that tra­di­tion. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 59.3 per cent; 60 months, 47.3 per cent.

9: GMC Sierra

With the ma­jor­ity of the KBB Top 10 Best Re­sale Value win­ners be­ing trucks and SUVs, it’s no sur­prise to see the $28,500 2016 GMC Sierra make the list. Beat­ing out its Gen­eral Mo­tors’ Chevro­let Sil­ver­ado, the up-to-six-pas­sen­ger, rear- or four­wheel-drive Sierra full-size pickup is the best of the do­mes­tic brands when it comes to keep­ing its value over time. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 57 per cent; 60 months, 48 per cent.

8: Chevro­let Ca­maro

Of the two pas­sen­ger cars on this year’s list, both the Chevro­let Ca­maro and Subaru WRX are tar­geted at driv­ing en­thu­si­asts, and both are pro­jected to keep their value longer than any other 2016 pas­sen­ger car. The rear-wheel-drive, four-pas­sen­ger Ca­maro two-door coupe is all new for 2016, and is ex­pected to start at a un­der-$30,000 price sim­i­lar to the out­go­ing 2015 mod­els. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 61.0 per cent; 60 months, 49.0 per cent.

7: 2016 Subaru WRX

We thor­oughly en­joyed our $29,995 2016 Subaru WRX dur­ing its 60-day stay in our hands. Its sports car per­for­mance, roomy and well-made in­te­rior and loads of avail­able safety and lux­ury gear made the Su­bie a joy to drive. Buy­ers can now feel com­forted that Subaru’s all-wheel-drive, five-pas­sen­ger, four­door sports compact sedan is also a good value years af­ter you drive it off your lo­cal dealer lot. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 65.2 per cent; 60 months, 50.8 per cent.

In its 15-year history, Ja­pan’s Toy­ota has never been able to break the stran­gle­hold the Detroit Three have in the full-size truck mar­ket. But if you want a big truck with a big re­sale value, the up-to-six-pas­sen­ger, rear- or four-wheel-drive $29,035 2016 Toy­ota Tun­dra (re­freshed in 2014) is your best bet, ac­cord­ing to KBB. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 64.1 per cent; 60 months, 53.8 per cent.

5: Jeep Wran­gler

It sucks gas, has a cramped in­te­rior and rides, well, like a Jeep. But when it comes time to re­sell, the $25,995 2016 Jeep Wran­gler is a peren­nial KBB champ. It helps that Jeep’s four-wheel-drive, five-pas­sen­ger, four-door mid-size SUV is unique in a mar­ket chock-o-block with car-based soft road­ers, and is con­stantly in de­mand as a used ve­hi­cle. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 65.6 per cent; 60 months, 54.9 per cent.

4: Chevro­let Colorado

Some in­dus­try types ques­tioned the wis­dom of GM re-en­ter­ing the mid-size truck seg­ment, but when it comes to re­sale value, the U.S. au­tomaker’s new Chevro­let Colorado and GMC Canyon twins are win­ners. Now with avail­able diesel power, the upto-five-pas­sen­ger, rear- or four-wheel-drive $20,895 Colorado mid-size pickup is even more in de­mand. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 70.0 per cent; 60 months, 58.6 per cent.

3: GMC Canyon

With both its full-size Sierra and mid-size Canyon earn­ing KBB Best Re­sale Value Awards, GMC must be do­ing some­thing right. Like its Chevro­let Colorado plat­form-mate, the up-to-five-pas­sen­ger, rear- or four-wheel-drive $20,600 Canyon mid-size pickup truck is ex­pected to keep a good chunk of its orig­i­nal price when it’s time to re­sell. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 70.7 per cent; 60 months, 59.5 per cent.

2: Toy­ota 4Run­ner

Like the Jeep Wran­gler, the tra­di­tional, bodyon-frame 4Run­ner is a unique propo­si­tion. It rides stiffly and doesn’t of­fer as much room as some of its cross­over ri­vals, but with a rep­u­ta­tion for dura­bil­ity and re­li­a­bil­ity, the up-to-five-pas­sen­ger, rear- or four-wheel-drive $43,790 Toy­ota mid-size sport util­ity ve­hi­cle is a re­sale-value win­ner. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 66.7 per cent; 60 months, 60.3 per cent.

1: Toy­ota Ta­coma

Penny-pincher alert: If you want to keep the most hard-earned money on a new ve­hi­cle when it comes time to re­sell, the $27,995 2016 Toy­ota Ta­coma is the best new ve­hi­cle to buy. Al­though the up-to-five-pas­sen­ger, rear- or four-wheel-drive mid-size pickup has been thor­oughly re­designed for 2016, KBB expects the Toy­ota truck to re­tain its pre­de­ces­sor’s in­dus­trylead­ing re­sale value. Pro­jected re­sale value at 36 months, 72.9 per cent; 60 months, 61.7 per cent.

PHO­TOS / POSTMEDIA NET­WORK INC.

Ac­cord­ing to Kel­ley Blue Book, the freshly re­designed 2016 Toy­ota Ta­coma has the top pro­jected re­sale value of any new ve­hi­cle priced less than $60,000.